The month of the Holidays (Tishri) is over, which means 18 (!!) holiday meals are behind us… Yes, 2 days of Rosh Hashana, 8 days of Sukkot and Simchat Torah… even Yom Kippur, which is a fast day, means that we have 2 pre-fast meals and a feast at the end of the 26 hours of prayer and repentance. (I won’t try to count the number of calories, especially with all the special dishes and the challah bread dipped in honey to ensure a sweet year).
We had a very nice New Year dinner at the Novotel Hotel, attended by 140 people. Then we spent Yom Kippur in Chalkida, a city 50 km away from Athens, where there is a small community, with a beautiful synagogue. Actually Chalkida is one of the oldest communities in Greece, they have evidence of Jewish presence for 2500 years, and their cemetery is one of the oldest in Europe.
We built our Sukka on the roof of our building. It is probably the only Sukka in the world that has a view on the Akropolis and the Lykavettus hill. Beautiful, especially at night… (During the day, you also have a view on the Athens pollution fog, unfortunately)
Now our spiritual suitcases are filled, ready to hit the road of the year: we have packed inspiration, joy, strength, all that we need to confront the challenges that await us…
5769, here we come!!!!!
